As we reach the longest night of the year, it is a time to meditate on the happenings and lessons of the last year and to replenish our souls as we move forward. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the work that you do and for your wonderful support of this continuing work and to wish you the very best for you and your loved ones as the days begin to once again grow longer.

–Lucinda Marshall, Director/Feminist Peace Network

The Christmas legend talks about three wise men. But in our own time, and in the times that came before, there have been and are many, many wise women. This year, in the darkness of the Winter Solstice, let us resolve not only to listen to the wisdom of these women but to have the courage and strength to raise our own voices, to say that it is time to stop the damaging, time to heal the wounds and affirm what is truly sacred, the lives of all and the earth on which we live.

Feminist Peace Network Director Lucinda Marshall will be discussing CEDAW, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women with Robin Morgan on Women’s Media Center Live Radio at 11 am est Saturday December 15. You can listen live or find the podcast at a later date here. Learn Why CEDAW is so important and why this may finally be our opportunity to get it ratified without reservations.

As I write this, Congress is still dick-ering with women’s lives by failing to re-authorize VAWA (the Violence Against Women Act). More often than not, whenever this important act comes up for re-authorization, the right has some absurd excuse about why they should not provide this crucial funding that has been proven to save women’s lives. This year they have decided that they aren’t sure about funding VAWA because oh gasp, it would provide desperately needed services to Native American women.

We need to let the chief dick-erers know that enough is enough and they need to get this done because apparently even after taking a shellacking at the polls in large part because of all the woman-hating spew they’ve unleashed the last few years, they’ve decided that doubling down with more misogyny is the way to go.

Please take a minute and tell the GOP leadership enough is enough and that VAWA needs to be fully funded now.

Speaker of the House John Boehner: 202-225-0600 and

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: 202-225-2815

Women should not have to fight for this every year, the waste of time and resources, not to mention the risk to women’s lives that is perpetually used as a bargaining chip needs to end. It’s time to make VAWA permanent, not an annual discussion.